Femme Fatales

Laura (Fox Film Noir)

This silky smooth film noir pits gruff police detective Dana Andrews, stiff and blunt in his street-bred manners, against a cultured columnist and acidic wit (Clifton Webb at his prissiest) in a battle of wits during a murder investigation. The cop is a romantic hiding under a hard-boiled exterior who falls in love with the beautiful victim through the portrait that hangs in her apartment. Gene Tierney, whose heart-shaped face mixes the exotic with the girl next door, brings the poise and calm of a model to her role as the object of every man's gaze and the target of a killer. Laura, handsomely shot in dreamy black and white, is the first and best of Otto Preminger's cool, controlled murder mysteries. In the gritty world of film noir it remains the most refined and elegant example of the genre, but under the tasteful decor and high-society fashions lies a world seething in jealousy, passion, blackmail, and murder. Vincent Price costars as a blithe gigolo and David Raksin's lush theme has become a wistful romantic standard. --Sean Axmaker

Nominated for five Academy Awards®, this stylish mystery thriller twists and turns with new suspects, new evidence and unexpected revelations. A wealthy journalist (Clifton Webb) becomes entranced with a beautiful young career woman named Laura (Gene Tierney). But shortly before her wedding to a dashing young playboy (Vincent Price), she is found murdered. Stirred by her portrait, the detective (Dana Andrews) assigned to her case finds that he, too, is strangely under Laura's spell.

Witness For the Prosecution

Billy Wilder cowrote and directed this brilliant 1957 mystery based on Agatha Christie's celebrated play about an aging London barrister (Charles Laughton) who's preparing to retire when he takes the defense in the most vexing murder case of his distinguished career. In his final completed film (he died of a heart attack less than a year later), Tyrone Power plays the prime suspect in the murder of a wealthy widow, and Marlene Dietrich plays the wife of the accused, whose testimony--and true identity--holds the key to solving the case. A classic of courtroom suspense, Witness for the Prosecution is one of those movies with enough double-crossing twists to keep the viewer guessing right up to the very end, when yet another surprise is deftly revealed. This being a Billy Wilder film, the dialogue is first-rate and the acting superb, with both Laughton and his offscreen wife Elsa Lanchester (playing the barrister's pesty nurse) winning Academy Awards for their performances. Although later films would concoct even more complicated courtroom scenarios, this remains one of the best films of its kind and a model for all those films that followed its lead. --Jeff Shannon

Tyrone Power, Marlene Dietrich and Charles Laughton star in this brilliantly made courtroom drama (The Film Daily) that left audiences reeling from its surprise twists and shocking climax. Directed by Billy Wilder, scripted by Wilder and Harry Kurnitz and based on Agatha Christie's hit London play, this splendid, six-time Oscar-nominated* classic crackles with emotional electricity (The New York Times) and continues to keep movie lovers riveted until the final, mesmerizing frame. When a wealthy widow is found murdered, her married suitor, Leonard Vole (Power), is accused of the crime. Vole's only hope for acquittal is the testimony of his wife (Dietrich) but his airtightalibi shatters when she reveals some shocking secrets of her own! *1957: Best Picture, Actor (Laughton), Supporting Actress (Elsa Lanchester), Director, Sound, Film Editing

Memento

Guy Pearce (L.A. Confidential) and Joe Pantoliano (The Matrix) shine in this absolute stunner of a movie. Memento combines a bold, mind-bending script with compelling action and virtuoso performances. Pearce plays Leonard Shelby, hunting down the man who raped and murdered his wife. The problem is that "the incident" that robbed Leonard of his wife also stole his ability to make new memories. Unable to retain a location, a face, or a new clue on his own, Leonard continues his search with the help of notes, Polaroids, and even homemade tattoos for vital information.

Because of his condition, Leonard essentially lives his life in short, present-tense segments, with no clear idea of what's just happened to him. That's where Memento gets really interesting; the story begins at the end, and the movie jumps backward in 10-minute segments. The suspense of the movie lies not in discovering what happens, but in finding out why it happened. Amazingly, the movie achieves edge-of-your-seat excitement even as it moves backward in time, and it keeps the mind hopping as cause and effect are pieced together.

Pearce captures Leonard perfectly, conveying both the tragic romance of his quest and his wry humor in dealing with his condition. He is bolstered by several excellent supporting players, and the movie is all but stolen from him by Pantoliano, who delivers an amazing performance as Teddy, the guy who may or may not be on his side. Memento has an intriguing structure and even meditations on the nature of perception and meaning of life if you go looking for them, but it also functions just as well as a completely absorbing thriller. It's rare to find a movie this exciting with so much intelligence behind it. --Ali Davis

Wild Things (Unrated Edition)

The scheme is far from tame. But whose scheme is it? Assume nothing as you venture beyond Blue Bay's elite beach communities and into the murky waters of the Everglades for a mystery of deceit sex and greed as unpredictable as a hungry gator. And please keep your hands inside the boat at all times. Kevin Bacon Matt Dillon Neve Campbell Denise Richards and Bill Murray star in a swamp-steamy thriller about two high school students the guidance counselor they accuse of rape and the detective who knows there's more to the story.System Requirements:Running Time: 114 Min.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: MYSTERY/SUSPENSE Rating: UNRATED UPC: 043396016286 Manufacturer No: 01628

Wild Things is the kind of lurid, trashy thriller that you'll either dive into with unabashed pleasure or turn away from in prudish disgust; it's entirely your choice, but we suggest the former option since it's obviously much more fun. The plot's so convoluted it's hardly worth describing, except to say that it's set in humid Florida and involves a respected high school teacher (Matt Dillon--yes, Matt Dillon as a teacher!) who is faced with accusations of rape by a student (Denise Richards, from Starship Troopers) who had been giving him the kind of attention most people would consider improper for such a "nice" young lady. Another student (Neve Campbell) raises a similar charge against the teacher, and that's when a police officer (Kevin Bacon) begins to investigate the allegations. Just when you think the movie's gone overboard with its shameless sex and absurdly twisted plot, in drops Bill Murray as an unscrupulous lawyer (of course) to spice things up with insurance scams and welcomed comic relief. As directed by John McNaughton (who has a way of making just the right moves with this kind of film noir melodrama), Wild Things is a bona fide guilty pleasure--the kind of movie you may be ashamed to enjoy, but what the heck, you'll enjoy it anyway. --Jeff Shannon

Basic Instinct - Director's Cut (Ultimate Edition)

This steamy thriller to end all steamy thrillers stars Michael Douglas as Nick a boozy San Francisco police detective who finds himself drawn to the prime suspect in a murder case--manipulative sexually uninhibited novelist Catherine Trammell (Sharon Stone). Catherine's latest book features a murder uncannily similar to the one Nick is investigating and as the pair engage in a mating dance of dangerous one-upmanship more murders occur all described in her current work about a boozy cop in love with a killer. Nick's psychiatrist (Jeanne Tripplehorn) and cop partner (George Dzundza) are both worried about him and Catherine s jealous lesbian lover (Leilani Sarelle) may be trying to kill him but Nick is just too turned on to care.Director Paul Verhoeven shows an admirable lack of restraint in this ludicrously enjoyable thriller a sort of postmodern noir with Joe Eszterhas s script coming off like Mamet by way of Penthouse. Stone and Douglas exhibit fine chemistry (and most of their bodies) and there's some lovely Bay Area scenery courtesy of cinematographer Jan de Bont (who went on to direct films such as SPEED and TWISTER). Wayne Knight (Newman from SEINFELD) and Mitch Pileggi (Skinner from THE X-FILES) are precinct heads who question Catherine in the infamous leg-crossing scene.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: ACTION/ADVENTURE/THRILLERS UPC: 012236188483 Manufacturer No: 19688

The take-no-prisoners sex thriller from 1992 now stands as a milestone in the career of screenwriter Joe Eszterhas, but in the hands of director Paul Verhoeven Basic Instinct is an undeniably stylish and provocative study of obsession. In the role that made her a star (and showed the audience a little more skin than she intended), Sharon Stone plays the cleverly manipulative novelist Catherine Tramell who snares San Francisco detective Nick Curran (Michael Douglas) with her insatiable sexual appetite during the investigation of her boyfriend's murder. Tramell is the prime suspect, but the plot twists and turns until Curran is trapped in a dangerous cycle of dead ends and unsolved murders, never sure if Tramell is committing the crimes or if it is some other, unknown suspect. With a plot that keeps viewers guessing, Basic Instinct is the work of a director who is clearly in his element. --Jeff Shannon

Twilight

If it hadn't been released in 1998 with a veteran cast of Hollywood's finest, you could swear that Twilight was a movie from the 1940s--the kind of intelligent mystery that would've made Humphrey Bogart feel right at home. To be sure, that was exactly the intention of director and co-writer Robert Benton (in collaboration with Nobody's Fool writer Richard Russo), but the film's blessing is also its curse. Benton and Russo are so enamored of vintage mystery plots and characters that their movie nearly succumbs to the burden of old-fashioned familiarity. As the title suggests, the movie's aging characters, led by Newman as a private eye who's almost literally on his last legs, are all on the downhill of life, their Hollywood glory days behind them. Newman's character lives in the luxury home of two fading stars (Gene Hackman, Susan Sarandon) who may or may not be connected to a murder plot that also involves one of Newman's old colleagues (James Garner). Whether they're literally in their final days (as in the case of Hackman's character) or just grasping for some comfort in their twilight years, these characters interact with the kind of worldly, intelligent dialogue that was common in the better movies of Hollywood's past. But while Twilight gives Newman yet another role to fit into like a favored old suit, the movie's so low-key that some viewers may find it hard to sit through. That's a shame, because the bombastic, frenetically paced films that dominated the 1990s may have diminished our collective capacity to appreciate the solid, character-driven movie tradition that Twilight attempts to revive. --Jeff Shannon

Burned-out private eye plunges into a murder mystery tied to a long-unsolved case involving an aging actor.
Genre: Feature Film-Drama
Rating: R
Release Date: 28-MAR-2006
Media Type: DVD

Blown Away

Corey Haim (The Lost Boys) Corey Feldman (Gremlins) and Nicole Eggert (television's Baywatch) star in this erotic thriller about young love gone dangerously wrong. Rich (Corey Haim) works as an activities director at a fashionable resort in order to earn money for college. He meets the blonde and beautiful Megan (Nicole Eggert) and soon discovers she is not your average seventeen-year-old. Despite the warning from his older brother Wes (Corey Feldman) Rich plunges into a dangerous and obsessive affair with Megan. But Megan has more on her mind than love. She has plans for the future that could include murder. Is Rich the man who can help make her dreams come true or a pawn in her game of deceit? br>Features: Full Screen Version 2.0 Dolby Stereo SurroundDigitally MasteredInteractive Menus Scene SelectionSystem Requirements:Run Time: 91 MinFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: MYSTERY/SUSPENSE Rating: R UPC: 012236146636 Manufacturer No: 14663

Following

Creepy intimacy, plenty of suspense, and a few surprises enliven this black-and-white treat from the director of Memento. Bill is a struggling writer who fills his time and mind by following random strangers he sees on the street. After breaking his own rule ("never follow the same person twice") he becomes fascinated by Cobb, a voyeur who takes things one step further--actually breaking into people's homes to sift through their things. As you might expect, the relationship soon becomes unhealthy. Writer-director Christopher Nolan already reveals a sure hand in this early neo-noir work. Like Memento, Following toys with timelines, jumping back and forth and carefully dropping bits of information exactly when they're needed. Short and sharp, Following features an intriguing plot line and fine, understated performances by the entire cast. Don't miss it. --Ali Davis

An unemployed aspiring "writer" Bill (Jeremy Theobald) has a peculiar hobby, shadowing strangers at random in the streets of London. When Cobb (Alex Haw), a man Bill has been following, catches him in the act, Bill is drawn into Cobb's world of breaking into flats and prying into the personal lives of their victims. In Bob, Bill finds a strange companion - part mentor, part confessor and part evil twin. With an ingenious structure that involves flash forwards and doubling back, the film tests our knowledge and understanding just as the protagonist is being duped into an elaborate triple-cross. "Following" heralded Christopher Nolan as a promising new talent whose promise was amply confirmed with "Memento."

Devil in a Blue Dress

Despite rave reviews as one of the most stylish and intelligent detective pictures in a number of years, this 1995 adaptation of Walter Mosley's novel never found a mass audience. Too bad, because Carl Franklin's film is nearly perfect in every way, from its rich, shadowy look to its depiction of life in post-World War II black America (L.A.-style) to the acting of Denzel Washington, Don Cheadle, and others. Washington plays Easy Rawlins, an aircraft factory worker who is laid off only to find his true calling: as a private eye, albeit an unlicensed one. Hired to find a missing woman, he becomes entangled in a complex but satisfying case involving sex, corruption, racism, and of course money. Top-notch from top to bottom--and Cheadle is dangerously funny as Easy's best friend, a killer named Mouse. --Marshall Fine

Color of Night

Psychological twists and turns strangle the plot of this disappointing effort from the director of The Stunt Man, Richard Rush. Emotionally damaged psychiatrist Bruce Willis leaves his practice behind and moves to LA when a patient commits suicide in front of him. Out of the goodness of his broken heart, he takes over the practice of a murdered colleague (Scott Bakula). Jane March is the needy but mysterious woman who literally crashes into his life, making sexual advances the good doctor soon reciprocates. What March seems to need most, however, is underwear. The plot and the dialogue vacillate between silly and inane, leaving us with some so-so sex and overblown performances. This could explain why it was the winner of the 1995 Razzie Award for Worst Picture. If you want a more effective thriller that delves into damaged psyches, take another look at Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo. --Rochelle O'Gorman

Haunted by the bizarre suicide of a patient, New York psychologist Dr. Bill Capa abandons his successful practice and relocates to L.A., but his encounters there prove as shocking as the chilling event he has run away from, and he immediately finds himself entangled in an explosive sexual relationship with a beautiful but enigmatic woman named Rose, and the investigation into the brutal stabbing murder of a friend and colleague, Dr. Bob Moore. A moth drawn to a flame, Dr. Capa is lured to Rose by his sexual cravings, and he discovers this woman has the power to fulfill his most reckless erotic fantasies. Yet, the more she satisfies him, the more he finds himself enslaved by her manipulation and control. As Capa gets closer to identifying the killer of his patient, Rose becomes an equally tantalizing mystery that he must solve -- if he can stay alive long enough to avoid a lunatic murderer who is stalking him.